Eleven
“Are they going to attack us?” I asked Jakan as we got closer.
Their focus remained fixed to the mortal glass as we walked amongst them, and it was an unnerving experience, even though they paid us no attention. Before he could answer my question I quickly added, “And do they stand there all sun-cycle?”
“All sun-cycle,” he replied quietly. “As time passes their minds and memories deteriorate. The more time passes, the more they are drawn here: to the glass, to their bodies, to the other side. Not that they realised why they’re drawn here. None of them seem to know anymore.” He took a long, deep breath. “And they will not harm you. They are children; their souls remain untainted by the impurity of the worlds.”
As we passed the outer circle of young, blank faces, tears began to slip down my cheeks. Some of the children were tiny, looking to be no older than two or three. Some of them were as old as six or seven, though they clung to babies, carrying them around as though they were their own. The babies themselves were quiet and they barely struggled or moved. They were as still and blank as the other children.
“Your brother is a monster,” I choked out in a low whisper.
Jakan only nodded in reply, and soon we were before the mortal glass. I felt the first shimmer of energy since landing in the imprisonment realm. The energy was Topia: I could sense it on the other side of the glass, despite the fact that there was no evidence of the other land written across the glittering black surface.
“This is the only connection that exists between Topia and this realm,” Jakan told me. “Topia and Minatsol are connected by many channels, but here … there is only the glass.”
I still had no idea where the imprisonment realm was in relation to Topia and Minatsol. Was it part of the same land? Or somewhere completely different? How did the gods manage to be banished there when a weapon created by Crowe was used on them? What made Crowe’s weapons so special?
I had so many questions that would probably never be answered. But at least it was a small measure of relief to know that Topia was connected to this realm through the glass. I hadn’t liked the thought that that we were floating around in an alternate world without a tether to any of the worlds I knew. My thoughts were so tangled that I must have said something out loud without realising, because Jakan shot me a look, as though in reply to a question.
“The imprisonment realm only exists because of the mortal glass,” he told me. “The glass created this world.”
“The glass created an entire world?” I asked.
“That’s how it came to exist,” he confirmed. “Everything is in balance. From Topia, the reverse side of the glass is here. From here, the reverse side of the glass is Topia. For the worlds to have balance, there must always be two sides. For Topia to be perfect, there had to be a place for the darkness and misery to escape, because it can’t justceaseto exist.”
I sucked in a deep breath. “So … how do Crowe’s weapons send gods here?”
“He steals from the glass,” Jakan answered gruffly. “Chipping away at the stone, and then taking those pieces and forging them into his weapons. It’s the glass that gives his weapons their true power.”
I stood there blinking at Jakan for several clicks. “That’s why the stone wall had been defiled,” I said, thinking back to what I’d seen in the cave. “Crowe was the one who hurt the glass?”
Jakan’s expression darkened, and I took that for an answer in itself.
“In doing so, Crowe has weakened the glass,” he told me. “That is part of the reason I cannot use it any longer to return to Topia. I used to be fed energy through the glass because of my connection to Topia, but the glass was weakened and my connection grew too small. I’ve been here for a long time without the energy of Topia, and I’ve grown too weak to escape, as I once was able to. It took me close to fifty life-cycles to escape this realm the first time, but I was in Topia for no more than a single rotation before Staviti picked up on my energy. When he found me, my weakened state was no match for him, and suddenly I was back here again. When I escaped the second time, I was smarter. I left Topia and fled to Minatsol, and I was able to hide there for some time, quietly gathering my strength again. It wasn’t until you …” He shook his head, trailing off.
I swallowed, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, I gently prodded him. “Until me?”
“You were a child of a god and a dweller. Your energy was absorbing everything your mother had to give. She would have died, if I hadn’t smuggled her into Topia, where you might both survive the birth.”
“We did,” I needlessly noted. “But I’m guessing you didn’t?”
He smiled wryly. “Staviti sensed me even faster than the first time. I’ve since realised that the stronger I am, the faster he picks up on my energy. I am so far weakened in my current state that it will take him several sun-cycles to recognise the residue of my power within his realm.”
“That’s why it’s different for you in here?” I asked. “Compared to the others? It’s because you’re connected to Topia, just like Staviti is?”
He nodded. “For a long time, my connection to Topia sustained me. Even now, whatever insignificant amount of energy is leaking through has allowed me to retain my memories.”
“So, you think we can still use the glass to return home? Even damaged?”
Jakan frowned. “I don’t know with certainty. I haven’t been able to do it on my own in a very long time, but with Crowe’s weapons … it’s the best chance we have. This is the closest link to Topia.”
“We have to hurry and try.” I pushed closer to the glass, almost touching the softly glowing surface. “Our home is about to fall apart and I have to save my family.”
Jakan didn’t argue, he just reached out and placed his hand against the glass. He nodded for me to do the same. When we both touched it, he lifted his free hand and clasped the other end of the chain that I still held.
“Do exactly what you did last time,” he said. “Follow the link back to Topia.”
Closing my eyes, I focussed. My brain responded to my wants and needs so much faster these sun-cycles. It had been trained, in a way. There was a jerking motion, and I thought I heard cries starting up from behind us—the cries of the children—but we were gone before I could check to see why they had woken from their catatonic states.
